Ralph Kiner
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Ralph Kiner was signed by the Pirates in 1941. He played for two years. Then World War II came and Kiner was sent over seas. After two years of service Kiner came back to the Pirates. This was an interesting time for baseball. It was the only comfort given to people after the war. |
| In 1946, Kiner became the Pirates left fielder. Though he started out slowly, he hit twenty-three homeruns. In 1947, the Pirates signed Hank Greenberg. Greenberg only stayed with the Pirates for two seasons but he made a major impact on Kiner. In Greenberg's second year Kiner hit 51 homeruns. This was a dramatic difference from the year before. | |
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Kiner soon became the Pirate's premier player. They even put an extra bullpen in left field and moved the fence in for Kiner's benefit. They called it Kiner's Korner. This helped Kiner when he hit 40 homeruns and had a batting average of .313. Though the Pirates did not win much with Kiner on the team attendance boomed. In 1949, Kiner hit 54 homeruns again leading the NL. |
| Then Ralph Kiner's back was injured. He played through the pain. In his sixth year, Kiner reached the mark of 100 scored runs which was quite a feat in those days. In his seventh year Kiner was traded to the Chicago Cubs who were another cellar team. He did not do much there. In his tenth season, Kiner was traded to the Cleveland Indians. He was finally on a winning team. After that year his back problems became bad enough and forced him to retire. |
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In Kiner's brief career, he posted major numbers with 369 career homeruns. Two mistakes were always made when talking to him. The first was that he was a bad fielder, but with a sure hand and an accurate arm Kiner held his own. The second was that he struck out a lot, but he actually never struck out more than 100 times in a season. Though not recognized as much as other great players, Kiner was a good player and a great Pirate. |
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